PROJECT WORK - 3

Name of the Project : Parthenogenesis

Objectives : To study the process and types of Parthenogenesis. Its advantages to the living
organisms.
Tools : Collected information from Internet and also by referring the book Cell biology,
Genetics and Ecology by S. Chand publications.
Procedure : I have collected the information regarding the process of Parthenogenesis and
its types. The collected information regarding. Parthenogenesis is as follows;
The peculiar mode of asexual reproduction in which the egg development occurs without the
fertilization is known as Parthenogenesis. It is Two types;
1. Natural Parthenogenesis
2. Artificial Parthenogenesis.

Parthenogenesis

Natural Parthenogenesis Artificial Parthenogenesis

Complete Incomplete Method

Parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis Physical mode Chemical mode

Parthenogenesis on the basis of Condition of the cell

Arhenotokons (or) Thelytokons (or)

Diploid Parthenogenesis Haploid Parthenogenesis

Ameiotic Parthenogenesis Meiotic Parthenogenesis

Natural Parthenogenesis:
In certain animals, the parthenogenesis occur regularly, naturally and constantly in their
life cycles and this is known as Natural Parthenogenesis.
It is of two types : a) Complete Parthenogenesis
b)Incomplete Parthenogenesis

Complete Parthenogenesis:
Certain insects have no sexual phase and no males. They depend exclusively on the parthenogenesis for
the self reproduction. This is known as Complete Parthenogenesis.
Ex: Earthworms, fishes, grasshoppers, salamanders etc,.
Incomplete Parthenogenesis :
The life cycle of certain insects includes two generations a) Sexual generation b) Parthenogenetic
generations, both of which alternate to each other. In such cases, the diploid eggs produce females and
the unfertilized eggs produce males. This type of Parthenogenesis is called Incomplete Parthenogenesis.
The Complete and Incomplete types of Natural Parthenogenesis, may be of following two types:

Haploid (or) Arhenotokons Parthenogenesis:

In this mode of Parthenogenesis the haploid eggs are not fertilized by the sperms and
develop into the Haploid individuals. In these cases, the haploid individuals are always males, whereas
the diploid individuals are the females.
Ex;- Bees, Wasps and certain spiders etc.,
In Bees, the queen bees are fertilized only once by one or many( Drones). She stores the sperms and as
she lays her eggs, she can either fertilize the eggs or allow them to pass unfertilized. The fertilized eggs
become females and unfertilized develop into haploid males.
Diploid( or) Thelytokons Parthenogenesis:
In this mode of Parthenogenesis the young individuals develop from the unfertilized diploid eggs.
The off springs of Thelytoky could be either male or female. But normally it produces only diploid
females.
Ex: Aphids
In Aphids females emerging in the spring produce several generations of females of diploid.
Parthenogenesis resulting from suppression of first or second polar body. During summer some females
reproduce sexually males and females by diploid parthenogenesis males differing from females in
lacking one sex chromosome. Males produce haploid gametes through normal meiosis which fuse to
form diploid zygote that emerge again in the spring as parthenogenetic female. Further, since
thelytokon is also found in polyploidy forms it is also called Somatic Parthenogenesis.
Following types of Thelytoky have been recognized :
1) Ameiotic Parthenogenesis
2) Meiotic Parthenogenesis.
The diplosis of the diploid Thelytoky may occur by the following methods;
A) By auto fertilization
B) By restitution.
Artificial Parthenogenesis:
The eggs always develop into the young individuals by the fertilization. Sometimes may
develop parthenogenetically under certain artificial conditions. This type of Parthenogenesis is known
as Artificial Parthenogenesis. Artificial Parthenogenesis is influenced by physical and chemical means.
Physical Mode:
The following physical means cause the process of Parthenogenesis; 1) Ultraviolet rays 2)
when the eggs are pricked with few glass needles, the young ones develop parthenogenetically. 3)
Temperature 4) Electric shocks.
Chemical Mode:
The following chemicals have been found to cause parthenogenesis in normal eggs. 1) Urea and sucrose
2) Chlorides of potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium etc,.3) Acids like lactic acid, butyric acid, fatty
acid etc,. 4) Chloroform Ex; Amphibians, birds, mammals etc,.
Conclusion: From this project I understood the process of Parthenogenesis in Animals , factors that
influence the parthenogenesis and also the process of parthenogenesis in Aphids and Bees.
Resource: I have browsed internet (Wikipedia) and referred the book “ Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular
biology, Evolution and Ecology” written P.S Verma and V.K Agarwal.
Thanks giving note: I sincerely, thank my biology teacher for guiding me and making me to
understand about the project in providing the information.
 LAB ACTIVITY - 3
Sporulation
Heat Note :
I with my group of friends performed this activity under the guidance of our teacher. We brought
bread with mould, we conducted this activity on 9th September 2016 in our class and observed the detailed
structure of rhizopus and the sporulation process.
Aim : To study the structure and process of sporulation in common bread mould.
Materials required : Bread with mould (sample), plain glass slid, cover slip, water, disposable gloves.
Procedure : I prepared the bread mould sample by keeping bread slice in a cupboard of classroom and I
regularly moistened it, so that the mould develops well. We bought the other materials from school
laboratory. A drop of water is placed and covered the specimen with a cover slip with the help of blotting
paper. The excess water was removed and the cover slip is tapped with the needle edge to remove air
bubbles. Then the slide was made ready to view under the microscope. We placed the glass slide under
the microscope and made ready for observation.
Observations : we observed fine thread-like structure with knob-like endings. Some of the black
knobbed structures have minute fine cells.
Precautions : 1) The rhizopus can cause allergy so we decided to avoid such students in this
activity who have hyper-sensitivity.
2) As rhizopus can be contagious, we wore disposable gloves during the activity.
3) At the end of the activity, we discarded the things carefully and cleaned our hands
with sterilizer.
Results : 1) From the above activity, we studied the structure of rhizopus.
2) The long thread-like structures which are observed under the microscope are called
Hyphae or Mycelium.
3) The black knob-like structures are sporangium and they are enclosed with spores.
4) The spores often fall on suitable substratum to germinate into hyphae and later into
sporangiophore.